Shock-arrester.



J. J. WESCOTT.

SHOCK ARRESTER.

APPLICATION FILED was.v 1913.

Patented July 20, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

M Z i r, a m E i] W Z 4/ E,

7 4 16 j .2] AL 1 co.. WASHINGTON, b. c.

1. J1 WESCOTT. SHOCK ARRESTER. APPLICATION FILED AUG-5, ma.

1,147,059. Patented July 20, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANMRAHI CO" WASHINGTON D c 'rns FFICE.

JOHN J. WESOOT'I, 0F FIONROE,,WISC01\TSIN.

SHOCK-ARBESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 5, 1913. Serial No. 783,164.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN J. Wnsoo'r'r,citizen of the United States, residing at Monroe, in the county of Greenand State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Shock-Arresters, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in shock arrestersfor Wehicles, particularly for motor vehicles, the primary object of myinvention being the provision of a. shock arrester which may be somounted and adjusted upon the vehicle as to give the effect of anadditional load, thereby greatly improving the riding qualities of thevehicle when lightly loaded.

A further object of my invention is to provide a shock arrester whichmay be employed upon anytype of vehicle and in any one of a number ofpositions and with any type of springs now in use and which will in noway decrease the resiliency of the original vehicle springs but whichwill in effect augment or increase the same, while at the same time itwill serve as an absolute check against rebound or up throw of thevehicle body.

Inasmuch as the breaking of vehicle springs is usually due to therebound of the Vehicle body, it will beclear that a shock arrester ofthe above type, which. serves as an absolute check for the rebound, willprevent breakage of the springs. Because of this checking efi'ectiit ispossible to use more flexible springs, and in the use of ellipticsprings, springs having longer leaves and greater resiliency, therebygreatly improving the easy riding qualities of the vehicle.

I accomplish the above results by the provision of the novel -mechanismhereinafter more particularly set forth, illustrated in the drawingshereto attached and pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary rear elevation of aconventional form of motor vehicle, showing my improved shock arresterapplied thereto; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of theshock arresterremoved from the vehicle; Flg. 3is a similar View, showing a furthermodification;

tional view of the part shown in section in Fig. 4:, showing certaindetails in construction; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational View of theshock arrester of the type shown in Fig. 2 but employing a slightlydifferent form of spring in the inclined yieldable member, the springhere shown in itself acting as a positive check to limit the rebound ofthe vehicle body.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indi cated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

My shock arrester may be mounted upon practically any portion of thevehicle, the only absolute requirement beingthat the free ends of one orboth of the oppositely inrester being extended; between clips 13carriedqby the lower leaves of the springs against the rear axle andplate 1 1 secured to the rear end portion of the frame of the vehicleand having perforated ears 15. Each of the clips employed is in the formof a c'levis bolt passed about the spring and terminating at one end inan eye 16. The

shock arrester includes two pairs of oppositely inclined members 17, thefree ends of which are pivotally connected to the cars 15 and eyes 16and an adjustable resilient connectionbetween the pivotally connectedends ofthe pairs of members, said resilient connection being indicatedas a whole by the numeral 18. This connection includes,

at each end, aneye 19. A link 20is connected at one end to one of theeyes 19 andby its other end to one end of a strong helical spring 21, aturn buckle 22 connecting the opposite end of the spring2l withthe othereye'19. This turn buckle includes alink 23 connected to the eye, a frame2 1 swiveled upon the free end of the link 23 and a second link 25connected by one end to the spring and having its opposite end threadedfor. engagement in a threaded bore formed as of the resilient connection18.

'to the eye 16.

having their free ends threaded for engage- "ment in alined bores of aturn buckle frame 30, this construction permitting adjustment of theinclined rigid connection 27 as well Of course it will be clear thateach of the links 27 may be made in a single piece or each may beprovided with a turn buckle structure, as preferred.

In use, the shock arrester is applied in the manner shown in Fig. 1 andthe turn buckle so adjusted as to cause the shock arrester to exert ageneral downward pull upon the vehicle body, thus having the effect ofan additional load in the vehicle. son, during relative downwardmovement of For this reathe vehicle body, the shock arrester will ineffect act against the usual springs of the vehicle tending to increasethe downward movement, in the same manner as would an extra load uponthe vehicle. Upon the rebound, however, the shock arrester is morequickly brought into play and quickly but gently checks upward movementof the vehicle body past normal position. It will of -course be clearthat this form of shock arrester, simple as it is, permits of an almostinfinite number of modifications and for this reason I have illustratedin Figs. 3 to 6 a number of slightly modified forms of shock arrester,although I do not wish in any way to limit myself to only such forms asI have shown in the drawings.

The form of shock arrester shown in Fig. 3 includes a pair of oppositelyinclined members 17*, each consisting of a link 34 and a length of chain35, these pairs of members being connected by a connecting member 36practically identical in construction with the previously describedconnecting member, the

sole difference being that the terminal,

' "threaded link 37 of the turn buckle, is connected directly to one ofthe pairs of oppositely, inclined members, instead of intermediatelythrough a ring.

In'Figs. 4 and 5I have illustrated a shock arrester constructed topermit a wide range or. adjustment of parts and further constructed toact as a positive check to limit the rebound of the vehicle body towhich it is "attached; This shock arrester includes two '.pairsofoppositely inclined members 17 and alconnecting member 39. One member ofeach of the pairs of members consists of a turn buckle 40, while theothermember consists of a helical expansion spring 41 and a link 42. Theconnecting member includes the usual helical spring 43 and links 44 and45. The springs 41 inclose a flexible sleeve 46 .of leather or othersuitable material and extending through these sleeves are chains 4-7,certain links of whichare slidably connected to the sleeve by staples orother suitable fastening devices 48. As best shown in the sectional viewof Fig. 5, these chains, under normal condition, are loose, this beingnecessary to permit a limitedexpansion of the springs 41 before thechains become tight and act as a check against furtherupward movement ofthe vehicle body. The leather sleeves hold the chains in properposition, prevent them from becoming caught in the springs surroundingthem when the springs V are extended and do away with any noise whichmight otherwise be caused by the scraping of the chains against thesprings.

In place of springs inclosing chains, as

shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the shock arrester of I the type there shown,may be constructed with compression springs 49 as shown in Fig. 6.Inthis form of device a pair of cup-shaped heads 50 are provided, ahelical compression spring 51 being mounted between the heads. U-shapedcoupling members 52 are then passed one from each end through both headsand secured by nuts 53, leaving the bight portions of the couplingmembers extending beyond the heads to form attaching rings. With aspring so constructed, it will be apparent that after strain has beenapplied to the coupling members to draw thesame away from each other andconsequently to compress the spring between the heads to a certainextent, the coils of the springs will be brought into engagement onewith the other and so act as a positive check to limit further movementof the coupling member. With this type of spring it is thereforeunnecessary to employ chains or other means for limiting the action ofthe springs. I

By forming certain of the parts of the pairs of oppositely inclinedmembers flexible,

by making them of springs'or' chains, all likelihood of their exertingundue. strain upon the frame of the vehicleis avoided. This is ofparticular importance ifthe shock arrester is to be employed across thefront of the machine or longitudinally of the machine. Furthermore, theshock arrester is less liable to break under unusual strain of 'thevehicle frame or twisting thereof By proper adjustment of theturnbuckles, the shock arresters may be made to exert any amount ofdownward pull upon the vehicle body and adjustment may therefore be madeto insure easy riding, irrespectiveof the load-which the vehicle is tocarry, the

lighter the load carried the greater the. ex-

tent to which the arrester should be tensioned.

If the shock arrester is to be employed lengthwise of the vehicle body,both pairs of oppositely inclined members may be used or but one of suchpairs, as preferred. In this latter case one end of the connectingmember would be secured directly to the vehicle or frame, while theoppositely inclined members would be connected in the usual manner attheir free ends to relatively movable parts of the vehicle.

It will of course be understood that I do not wish in any way to limitmyself to the specific details of construction illustrated in thedrawings and described in the specification, as various minor changesmay be made at any time, within the scope of the appended claims,without in the slightest degree departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A shock absorber comprising opposed rigid members having an oppositeinclination, flexible members connected to the converged ends of therigid members and inclining in an opposite direction thereto and to eachother, and a contractile yieldable connection attached at its ends tothe opposite converging members at the points of juncture of the rigidand flexible members.

2. A shock absorber comprising spaced pairs of oppositely inclinedmembers, one

member of each pair being rigid in its length and the other member ofeach pair being flexible in its length, a contractile yieldableconnection attached at its ends to the pairs of members at the points ofconvergence of their rigid and flexible members, and means in the lengthof the contractile yieldable connection to vary the tension thereof.

3. A shock absorber comprising opposed pairs of oppositely inclinedmembers, one member of each pair being rigid in its length and the othermember of each pair being longitudinally elastic and a contractileyieldable connection attached at its ends to the pairs of members at thepoints of convergence of their rigid and flexible members.

4:. A shock absorber comprising opposed pairs of oppositely inclinedmembers, one

. member of each pair being rigid in its length and the other member ofeach pair being longitudinally elastic, means in the length of the rigidmembers for varying their length, and a contractile yieldable connectionattached at its ends to the pairs of members at the points ofconvergence of their rigid and longitudinally elastic members.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN J. WESCOTT. [L.s.]

Witnesses:

J. B. HEEREN, C. A. SCHINDLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

